Swiss Air-Rescue Rega is the first helicopter operator in the world to be granted authorisation to use new instrument flight procedures at a hospital. This significant step forward was made possible by the close collaboration between Rega, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation FOCA, procedure designers and helicopter manufacturer Leonardo. The new approach flight procedures will benefit patients who will be able to be safely flown to Interlaken Hospital or transferred from there to other hospitals for further treatment even in poor visibility conditions.

For a number of years Rega has been able to fly in poor visibility to various central hospitals in Switzerland along predefined instrument flight routes with the aid of satellite navigation and the on-board computer. All of the flight procedures certified to date are based on the classic RNP approaches. The new RNP-AR (Required Navigation Performance Authorisation Required) procedure, for which certification has now been granted to Rega for Interlaken Hospital, in combination with the ultra-modern navigation equipment in the helicopter is considerably more accurate than that currently deployed, thus allowing even greater precision in navigation. This in turn enables approach flights to be performed safely in highly confined spaces in poor visibility using the autopilot – a huge advantage in mountainous or adverse terrain. Rega is the first helicopter operator in the world to be certified to use a RNP-AR procedure for approach and departure flights.